Barea provides 4th-quarter spark, Mavs beat Nets
NEW YORK -- J.J. Barea scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter as the Dallas Mavericks never trailed but were forced to hold on for a 111-104 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday.
Dirk Nowitzki led the Mavericks with 23 points but was not on the floor when Berea scored nine straight points in a span of 2:31.
Barea began his spree with a 17-footer that put the Mavericks up 96-92 with 4:47 remaining. He converted a 15-footer with 3:59 left as Dallas maintained a four-point lead at 98-94 lead.
A 20-footer with 2:55 remaining was followed by a 3-poiner to give Dallas a 103-96 lead with 2:16 to play.
Despite Barea's clutch baskets, Dallas did not seal the game until the final minute. The Nets were within 103-101 following two free throws by Randy Foye with 80 seconds remaining but consecutive hoops by Harrison Barnes sealed the win.
Nowitzki scored 20 of his points in the first three quarters when the Mavericks took an 82-72 lead. He made 9 of 17 shots to become the sixth player to score at least 31,000 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Nowitzki and Barea were provided help offensively as three others reached double figures for Dallas, which shot 53.9 percent less than 48 hours after a 116-78 drubbing in Philadelphia on Friday.
Barnes added 19, Wesley Matthews contributed 15 and Devin Harris chipped in 11.
Brook Lopez led the Nets with 27 points and Spencer Dinwiddie added 18. Dinwiddie handled point guard duties for Brooklyn most of the game after Jeremy Lin exited with a sprained right ankle.
Lin was injured midway through the first quarter going for an offensive rebound and the Nets ruled him out of the game in the second quarter.
The Mavericks appeared to be on their way to sealing it when Dorian Finney-Smith's 3-pointer gave them a 91-79 lead with 9:27 remaining. Before Barea's run, Dallas struggled to expand the lead but never gave it up, allowing the Nets to get within 93-92 on a 16-footer by Dinwiddie with 5:51 remaining.
NOTES: Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said he regretted not calling a timeout when G Jeremy Lin was sitting at the scorer's table for several minutes in the fourth quarter of Friday's 98-95 loss to the Boston Celtics. ... The Mavericks' roster contains four undrafted rookies, including G Yogi Ferrell, who appeared in 10 games for Brooklyn earlier this season. ... Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said the Mavericks worked out Ferrell before last year's draft. ... Brooklyn G Joe Harris (sprained left shoulder) missed his ninth straight game while G Sean Kilpatrick sat out for the third straight contest. ... Dallas signed G Manny Harris and F Jarrod Uthoff to second 10-day contracts. ... Brooklyn owner Mikhail Prokhorov attended the game and is expected to attend the next two home games Tuesday against Detroit and Thursday against Phoenix.